[Cut to Andy dancing with Julia in his bedroom only from Delia's point of view, he's dancing alone. Delia looks sad.]

NARRATOR: Lost his center. Lost his way.

[Cut to Ephram and Amy's first meeting at school.]

NARRATOR: To a brave girl, this broken man looked like a life raft. And his son, a gentle current pulling him close.

[Cut to a scene from "The Great Doctor Brown". This one is on the Ferris wheel where Amy asks Ephram to ask his dad to help Colin.]

NARRATOR: The girl took a chance when she saw it. She begged the doctor's son to help her in her cause.

AMY: I know we haven't talked about this since that trip to Denver...

[Cut to scene from "Till Death Do Us Part". Ephram leans in to Amy at the mine and kisses her.]

NARRATOR: And he did because he loved her and could refuse her nothing.

[Cut to a scene that hasn't been seen before. Supposedly from "We Hold These Truths". A hand places an x-ray of brain scans up.]

[Cut to Dr. Brown being suited up for surgery.]

NARRATOR: And so it came to pass, one man's tragedy and one boy's loss, met.

[Cut to Andy walking in to reveal the news to Colin's parents.]

NARRATOR: Like two rivers joined. And the boy was saved.

[Colin's mother, Sharon, smiles with relief.]

[Cut to a little later. Dr. Brown is talking to Ephram but spins around when Amy gives him a hug of gratitude.]

NARRATOR: And the man was saved. At least for a time.

[Fade to black then to Colin awake in his hospital bed in "Till Death Do Us Part". His head is bandaged and he has an absent look on his face.]

NARRATOR: But the boy was not as he was before.

AMY: [to the nurse] Are you sure he can hear me?

NURSE: Mmm-hmm.

AMY: Why is he staring at me like that?

[Cut to Colin in the school hallway in "Colin the Second".]

NARRATOR: Although Colin had cheated death, a little death had crept inside. He was not whole, he was not himself.

[Colin walks a little then spins around screaming and hurling a basketball at the trophy case which shatters.]

[Cut to Colin throwing up in the bathroom in "The Unveiling".]

NARRATOR: His now changed face frightened him.

[Cut to Colin fighting with Ephram and Bright in "The Miracle of Everwood".]

NARRATOR: He pushed those he cared for, far away.

COLIN: [psycho] I'm crazy, is that what you think? That I'm sick!? Is that what you think?!

BRIGHT: I'm starting to.

[Colin decks him right in the face. Then gives him another punch which knocks him down. Bright is shocked but Colin is absolutely astounded. He can't believe what he just did so he takes off.]

[Fade to black then on Colin having a CAT scan in "Fear Itself".]

NARRATOR: The good doctor believed that this boy could still be saved and that he was the one who could save him.

[Dr. Brown is talking to Colin's dad.]

DR. BROWN: These next two weeks are critical. I think you should talk to him, talk to your wife and let me know what you decide.

[Fade to black and this marks the end of the season overview. Fade back to Colin bouncing a ball in front of his house. He's in deep thought about whether to go ahead with the surgery.]

NARRATOR: But the boy hadn't decided if life was worth dying for.

[He shoots a hoop.]

NARRATOR: The choice was all his own.

[He bounces the ball some more as the camera slows down. He shoots another hoop as if the outcome of this shot will make his decision for him. The ball goes through the hoop as the scene quickly cuts to Dr. Brown's office. He's sitting at his desk as Colin lands the ball down on the desk.]

COLIN: If I do nothing then I could just stroke out at any day? Is that right, just gone?

DR. BROWN: Well I wouldn't have phrased it like that but it is possible, yes.

COLIN: Or I could have my life back.

DR. BROWN: I hope so. There are an infinite number of outcomes, Colin.

COLIN: The recovery?

DR. BROWN: It will be difficult. But if we succeed, it would only be motor skills that are impaired.

[Both actors deliver the next set of dialog in a very somber way.]

COLIN: Which way do you think it will go?

DR. BROWN: I don't know.

COLIN: Can you promise me that I won't be a vegetable?

DR. BROWN: No.

COLIN: Can you promise me that I won't lose my mind or my memory?

DR. BROWN: No.

COLIN: What can you promise me?

DR. BROWN: Nothing.

[Colin takes a breath.]

COLIN: OK. I'm in.

[He walks out.]

NARRATOR: This is the story of Colin Hart... and Andy Brown.

[Dr. Brown watches Colin walk away.]

NARRATOR: It's the story of a town that lost its center and strove to regain it. This is the story of Everwood.

[Fade to black and into the credits which are slightly different from the previous ones in this season. The paintings are zoomed out more so you can see more of the wall they're hung on.]

BRIGHT: Why? You'll have plenty of time to rest when you get back. Dude, go do something fun, mud-wrestle an alligator.

[They laugh.]

AMY: So dumb. Why don't we do something normal like see a movie maybe?

BRIGHT: [annoying/sarcastic voice] Oh movie. That's special.

DR. ABBOTT: That's enough. I'm sure Colin can decide for himself how he wants to spend his...

[He suddenly stops as he realizes what he's saying. Amy stares at him.]

DR. ABBOTT: ...tomorrow.

ROSE: [trying to change the subject] Would anyone like more dessert?

[Everyone is now uncomfortable.]

[Cut to the Browns on the road.]

DR. BROWN: I need to see Dr. Douglas. Remember him?

EPHRAM: He was your teacher, right?

DR. BROWN: All the med students dreaded being stuck with him. But whatever kinda doctor everyone thought I would become, Donald Douglas pushed me to be ten times that. I've learned more working with him than I've learned before or since. Back in New York, whenever I took on a case that other surgeons deemed impossible, I'd go visit Douglas and I wouldn't do it until we'd hammered out every avenue for success if there was one. If there wasn't, I wouldn't perform the procedure.

EPHRAM: So that's why we're going? For his approval to work on Colin?

DR. BROWN: I want his help.

EPHRAM: You didn't ask for his help last time.

DR. BROWN: Yeah, there was no question last time. We had nothing to lose.

[Cut to Delia in the back.]

DELIA: Daaad?

DR. BROWN: I know, honey.

[The car indicates and then pulls over.]

[Cut to Colin's house. His dad is lying morosely on the sofa, watching an old video of a family trip. Colin wanders in.]

COLIN: Dad?

[Colin's voice awakens his dad whom is otherwise transfixed on the screen.]

JAMES: [startled] Colin. What are you doing up? Is everything all right?

COLIN: Yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to get some water.

[The camera cuts to the screen and we see pre-coma Colin at a river with his parents, Amy and Bright. The kids are playing on the rocks and Colin chases Bright who might have thrown a stone at him.]

COLIN: What are you doing?

JAMES: Oh I, I just couldn't sleep. I don't know, I found this old video in the coffee table. Your mom must have been watching it.

COLIN: Isn't this the ah, trip to Beur Creek last year?

JAMES: [surprised] You remember.

[Colin takes a seat next to his dad.]

COLIN: Just some of it. Not much.

[They watch as Bright throws a rock in the water near Amy and she screams as some of the water hits her. She retaliates and does the same.]

COLIN: Dad?

JAMES: What?

COLIN: Are you scared?

JAMES: Yeah.

[Beat.]

JAMES: You?

COLIN: Yeah, but not so much about the surgery. I've just got this feeling. You know when you leave the house in the morning and after about ten minutes of being in the car you feel like you've left something on like the television or the bathroom light?

JAMES: Yeah.

COLIN: And that feeling just nags you all day long? It's just that feeling of forgetting or of leaving something behind. It's kinda like that. Like I'm on my way to the hospital and I've left the light on somewhere. Does that make any sense?

JAMES: Yeah. None of this makes any sense to me, Colin. I wish it did.

COLIN: [softly] Do you wanna tell me what you're scared of?

[His dad just shakes his head then puts an arm around Colin and pulls him closer for an intimate hug.]

JAMES: [softly] No.

[He kisses Colin tenderly on the head.]

[Cut to Cooperville University. Exterior. Day.]

[Dr. Brown opens the back door as quietly as possible. A lecture is in progress. He, Ephram, and Delia step quietly behind the back row. Delia tiptoes in.]

DR. DOUGLAS: Learning and memory. It's a poorly understood business, it's embarrassing. We have managed to figure out that interpretation of speech takes place in Wernicke's area...

[He's clicking slides.]

DR. DOUGLAS: ...a certain taste becomes acquired at the base of the post-central gyrus. But your predecessors pretty much quit with the "where" of the brain. The "how" of the brain we left that up to you people. Sorry about that.

[The class laughs.]

DR. DOUGLAS: What we do know...

[He stops as he spots Dr. Brown who is about to give a subtle greeting but in turn is stopped short when Dr. Douglas continues his lecture as if he's not there. Dr. Brown starts to look a little nervous.]

DR. DOUGLAS: What we do know is that maintaining what you've learned is a process of keeping the neuronal pathways in constant use. If a patient; [looking directly at Dr. Brown] or even a doctor, ceases the practice of any skill: innate, acquired, it doesn't matter. The essential pathways degenerate. The cells that form them, just die. Your mother was right. Practice your violin.

[The class laughs at the joke. With that, Douglas ends the lecture and disappears out the stage door before Dr. Brown has a chance to come down and say a thing.]

[Ephram stands and turns to his father.]

EPHRAM: He sure looked happy to see you!

[Cut to outside. Dr. Douglas is walking away as Dr. Brown tries to catch up to him.]

DR. BROWN: Donald... Donald, would you please stop a second? I just wanna talk to you. It's been a *very* long drive.

DR. DOUGLAS: [still walking] What did I say? The day you walked out on your gift would be the last day that we talked. Now how much room for interpretation did I leave?

DR. BROWN: We've been through too much together for this to be it.

DR. DOUGLAS: The same could be said for the doctors and patients that you left behind in New York.

DR. BROWN: Well, whatever I left behind was mine to leave behind.

[This makes Douglas stop.]

DR. DOUGLAS: And what about my time? What about all the years I spent training you, investing in you. To hell with you, you wasted my time, Doctor.

DR. BROWN: Donald...

DR. DOUGLAS: These are old conversations, Andy. I'm not gonna have them again.

[He continues walking.]

DR. BROWN: I have a patient, a case I've been working on.

[Douglas turns back. Taking the bait.]

DR. BROWN: It's a teenage boy who suffered a four-month coma. That is, until I removed two bone fragments from the brain stem... Impossible, but it worked. He woke up.

DR. DOUGLAS: So why are you here?

DR. BROWN: There have been complications since, symptoms from what we now know is a thrombus in the Basler artery. A result from the last procedure. He's getting worse, Donald.

DR. DOUGLAS: You wanna go back in?

DR. BROWN: You tell me.

{END OF ACT ONE / COMMERCIAL BREAK}

{ACT TWO}

[Open on a diner. Both doctors are hashing out ideas.]

DR. BROWN: His vascular anatomy is too torturous for a [intelligible] approach. I have to go in transportrosally.

DR. DOUGLAS: Because the sub-occipital opened?

DR. BROWN: Giving him exposure to the basler artery.

DR. DOUGLAS: Mmm hmm. And then?

DR. BROWN: And then dissection to remove the semi-circular canal, drilling the mastroid...

DR. DOUGLAS: ...Avoiding any damage to the facial nerve.

[Dr. Brown pours some sugar on to the table.]

DR. BROWN: Which is why... I dissect [traces a path through the sugar with his finger] *around* the nerve and transpose it.

DR. DOUGLAS: [placing a cherry on top of the sugar] What if there's bleeding?

DR. BROWN: I control it with an irrigation malice, go through the aracnoid cisterns, retract the cerebellum [eats the cherry] and get control of the vessel.

DR. DOUGLAS: [nodding] Alright, good. So now you're in.

DR. BROWN: Now I'm in. And at which point, I make my incision and suction out the clot.

DR. DOUGLAS: [holds out an olive] What if the vessel is stenactic?

DR. BROWN: [taking the olive] In that case, [pushes a toothpick through it] I use a stent. It hasn't been done in the basler artery but it's worth invertigo.

DR. DOUGLAS: What if the suction causes damage to the intima and you cause a dissection?

DR. BROWN: I won't hit the wall.

DR. DOUGLAS: But if you do?

DR. BROWN: I won't.

DR. DOUGLAS: You have about six hours to restore blood supply before you lose him.

[Dr. Brown considers this for a moment.]

DR. BROWN: I'd give Hephren to reopening.

DR. DOUGLAS: [shaking his head] There's a history of trauma to that area. Hephren could cause severe re-bleeding.

DR. BROWN: Then what?

DR. DOUGLAS: I don't know.

[Dr. Brown looks defeated.]

DR. DOUGLAS: Come on, don't pout. If it were easy, people wouldn't say it was brain surgery. We'll sleep on it and talk tomorrow, OK? Hey. Come to my house for tea. I have a couple of star students, I think they'd enjoy meeting you.

DR. BROWN: I can't. I've got the kids.

DR. DOUGLAS: All right. Bring them along.

[Cut to the Abbotts. Middle of the night. Amy is trying to climb down the trellis attached to the side of the house. Bright is getting impatient.]

BRIGHT: [quietly] Come on, hurry up before Dad hears you and calls the state trooper.

AMY: If I was going any faster, I'd be falling.

[She reaches the bottom before a flashlight shines on her.]

DR. ABBOTT: [whispering] Amy?

AMY: [to Bright] I'll be right there. [to her dad] Dad?

DR. ABBOTT: What's going on?

AMY: How did you hear us?

DR. ABBOTT: You're about as stealthy as a gaggle of gorillas. Is this Colin's idea of pre-operative preparation? Co-opting other youths into committing acts of vandalism?

AMY: Um, I don't know what you just said but we're not going to graffiti anything if that's what you think.

DR. ABBOTT: Do you know what time it is? It's tomorrow already. Colin's surgery...

AMY: I know when his surgery is, dad. I just... he just wanted a day. Just a day for us.

Dr. Abbott walks over to look in the car.

DR. ABBOTT: Where's he taking you?

[She has no idea.]

DR. ABBOTT: [handing Amy his cellphone] Take this, call every four hours, and get back here in time for a decent night's sleep.

AMY: Thanks, Dad.

[She gives him a quick kiss and hug and takes off.]

[Cut back to the University. Day. Dr. Brown is walking around outside with the kids.]

DR. BROWN: Just one more thing Something I wanna show you guys. It's really the best thing I promise. [suddenly noticing] Where's Delia?

EPHRAM: She died at the last place that wasn't the place you were looking for.

[Delia catches up.]

DELIA: Dad, we've been walking for hours.

EPHRAM: I know.

[He motions Delia to jump on his back.]

EPHRAM: We really have to skip whatever statue the students rubbed for luck or paint over every spring or whatever.

DR. BROWN: No, we don't. We're looking for a parking lot.

EPHRAM: Oh, well in that case...

DR. BROWN: It used to be right around here... I think. [reads his map] How could that be west? West is always left.

EPHRAM: We're already late for Dr. Douglas'. Why don't you say we find your parking lot some other time like when we're at the Hotel? Ordering room service?

[They carry on searching.]

[Cut to a highway. Bright, Amy and Colin are driving in a red convertible. Amy and Bright are wondering where they're going.]

AMY: Oh I've got it, I've got it. We're going to the swimming pool.

COLIN: Ah, wrong again. But thanks for playing. Besides, we passed it like half an hour ago AND besides, the water's 2 degrees this time of year.

BRIGHT: AND besides that.

AMY: Alright, give me a, give me a something.

BRIGHT: [interrupting] I know!

COLIN: Give it to me.

BRIGHT: Disneyland? It's gotta be.

AMY: You think we're going to Disneyland? We said we'd be back before dinner.

BRIGHT: Not dinner tonight. I smell a loophole?

COLIN: We're not going to Disneyland.

[Amy hears "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M. playing on the radio.]

AMY: Ooo, I love this song. Turn it up.

[They start singing along to the lyrics.]

LYRICS: Andy did you hear about this one / Tell me are you locked in the past

AMY: [laughing] Wait, turn it down. WAY down.

COLIN: Alright, so you people give up?

BRIGHT: NOT A CHANCE!

AMY: Are you kidding? We haven't even started.

COLIN: That's what I like to hear!

LYRICS: If you believe, they put a man on the moon / Man on the moon / If you believe there's nothing out there to see

DR. DOUGLAS: And... before you ask him for a recommendation, make sure he's gotten a drink first.

[More laughter. Ephram watches with a blank expression.]

[Cut to the Mile High Diner. Colin, Bright and Amy are sitting waiting to order.]

BRIGHT: So THIS is your big surprise? Mile High Pancakes? I'm a little disappointed.

COLIN: Chill out, man. This is just a halfway point. What are you gonna get, Grover?

AMY: [getting up] Ah, chocolate chip pancakes, large orange juice and a side of bacon. Can you order for me?

COLIN: Yeah, OK.

BRIGHT: So tell me, what is the difference between two eggs - any style of bacon and two scrambled eggs with bacon or sausage? I mean there's gotta be like a trick to this.

COLIN: You know, I think you asked me the same question the last time we were here. And the difference was a hash brown and 27 cents.

BRIGHT: You remember that, huh?

COLIN: Hey, you know more and more. Little bits of things. It's kinda like one of those pictures that made up of all the dots? The only thing I can't remember is the night of the accident. It's just... nothin'. Blank.

[Beat.]

COLIN: Look, I know you think it's your fault.

BRIGHT: That's right because it is.

COLIN: Listen, you know. The thing is, you know, I remember the inflatable swimming pool that you had on your front lawn, you know? And the frog we got from the pet store that we killed because we thought he'd like the washing machine.

[They both start laughing.]

BRIGHT: Sparky!

COLIN: Oh and the first time that I slept over at your house?

BRIGHT: Oh, yeah.

COLIN: You're it, man. You're my best friend. Whatever it was that happened that night, it's all good between us.

[Bright doesn't know what to say.]

BRIGHT: So which one costs the extra twenty-seven cents? [catches up] Oh, the one that costs twenty-seven cents more.

[Cut back to Dr. Douglas'. Ephram is alone in the study perusing the rather large collection of books. Dr. Douglas approaches him.]

DR. DOUGLAS: If it makes you feel better, I haven't read all of those.

EPHRAM: Yeah? But how many of them did you write?

DR. DOUGLAS: I usually like to hide out during parties too. Your father, he always liked them.

EPHRAM: I guess. I've never really seen him like this.

DR. DOUGLAS: In his element?

EPHRAM: I usually catch him at his least useful.

DR. DOUGLAS: That's too bad.

EPHRAM: So he was pretty amazing, huh?

DR. DOUGLAS: You have no idea.

EPHRAM: Was he always such a rock star? How'd you know?

DR. DOUGLAS: You get to tell with doctors. Maybe it's all these years of book collecting. You start to develop an eye. The big joke is...[picking up an old book] You can tell a book by its cover. David Copperfield, huh? The old ones anyway. See, it's the stitching. It sort of tells you what level you're getting. And it's the same with surgeons too. Years ago, I was working rounds. I saw a nurse changing a dressing on a patient who had just come out of surgery. I looked at the stitches. Same knot that everyone else ties. But these were just perfect. So I looked at the chart to see who the surgeon was. A doctor that I knew. He's good. Nothing special. But I couldn't get it out of my head all night. Those stitches were too good for that doctor. So I called him at 2 in the morning to enquire about it.

[Ephram starts to smile.]

DR. DOUGLAS: Was there anything unusual about the operation? "No," he said. "It was standard." Except, on a lark, he let one of the students close. I ask him "who?"

[They look over to Dr. Brown.]

DR. DOUGLAS: That's how I met your father.

EPHRAM: He was that good?

DR. DOUGLAS: Good? No, no. He was remarkable. You and your sister should be proud. Sorry, I've gotta go back in there with the lions. You feel free to nose around.

[Ephram just stands there, seeing his father in a completely new light.]

{END OF ACT TWO / COMMERCIAL BREAK}

{ACT THREE}

[Open on a random car park at the university. The Browns are standing at the edge. Ephram and Delia are wondering what's going on.]

DR. BROWN: Well... this is it.

DELIA: This is the best park?

EPHRAM: [sarcastic] Party school, huh?

DR. BROWN: Believe it or not, this is a special place. I got a driving lesson here once.

EPHRAM: [sarcastic] It's all coming clear now.

DR. BROWN: Do you remember that girl in the Dean's office I was trying to sweet talk out of getting me out of Douglas' rotation? Well, on our first date, she gets in my car and she makes a face like she just sat on a cat. Then she drags me here, she puts me in her Volvo, points to the stick shift, and says "no self-respecting surgeon should be allowed to drive an automatic." It was around then that I decided that I wanted a second date.

[It starts to come clear for Ephram now.]

EPHRAM: Didn't Mom drive a Volvo?

DELIA: That was Mom?!

[Their father just smiles.]

DR. BROWN: [to Ephram] So... [holding up the keys] You wanna learn?

[Ephram's face lights up with the biggest smile.]

[Cut to a stadium. Amy, Bright and Colin arrive. The stadium is empty.]

BRIGHT: Oh dude, it's grad night.

COLIN: Ding ding ding ding ding. Well, I guess this is what a jillion dollars gets you these days. Not bad.

AMY: But why?

BRIGHT: Seniors will be here in like 2 hours. The faculty's probably already on the way.

COLIN: Well then, we'd better enjoy it while we got it. This is our own private grad night, man, for, like, half an hour.

[Amy doesn't look so happy. Bright and Colin take their positions on the diamond. Bright is batting.]

AMY: In case nothing. I know why you wanted to have this. So you could tie up all the loose ends, get it all said and done with. Well, screw that, Colin. I won't let you. You can't finish anything with me today 'cause we're not done. You are not done. God, this is morbid.

COLIN: You want morbid? Last night, I wrote out my will. Don't you wanna know what you get?

AMY: Please, I don't wanna do this.

COLIN: Listen. I know that you're prepared for the surgery. I just don't know if you're prepared for what comes afterwards.

AMY: In case you don't remember, I've already done that part.

COLIN: You know, I just wanted you to have something that was perfect, in a movie kinda way, you know? Something you can hold on to.

AMY: I wanna hold on to you. That's all I want so if you think you can graduate with me tonight, if you think you can tie our whole relationship up into a neat little bow, you can't. I'm sorry but you can't.

[She starts to cry.]

AMY: You have to come back, Colin.

COLIN: OK, I will.

[Cut back to the parking lot. Dr. Brown is getting frustrated as Ephram tends to put his foot on the accelerator too much.]

DR. BROWN: Don't press down so much, will you? You're using too much gas!

EPHRAM: I'm not pressing hard at all!

DR. BROWN: You aren't? Then why are we going [jerks] 80 miles an hour?! Brake it, brake, BREAK!

[Cut to Delia sitting with some food. She puts the empty box into the bin and is not impressed with Ephram's driving. She talks to a passer-by.]

DELIA: Sad, isn't it?

[The car screeches.]

[Cut back to inside the car.]

DR. BROWN: OK. There are a lot of things you do well, Ephram. Driving may not be one of them.

EPHRAM: Well we can stop now if you want. Just quit while I'm behind?

DR. BROWN: No no no. It's OK. I'm just taking a breather here. I think my patience level has definitely increased since we moved to Everwood. Have you noticed that?

EPHRAM: You mean you actually *have* patience now?

[Beat.]

EPHRAM: I guess maybe we're done there? Maybe you've learned what you need to and we should go back?

DR. BROWN: Why? You miss New York that much?

EPHRAM: I'm not talking about going back for me. I mean for you.

DR. BROWN: I think I'm missing something here.

EPHRAM: It'd be OK with me if you wanted to go back to that life, doing surgery all the time. I know we'd never see you but I get it now. I wouldn't be angry with you. You'd be helping people, doing what you're supposed to do.

DR. BROWN: Who said I'm supposed to be doing that?

EPHRAM: I'm just saying, if you gave it all up for us...

DR. BROWN: I know what you're saying and it really means a lot to me, Ephram. But you're not the only reason I gave up being a surgeon. Don't take that hard.

EPHRAM: I don't get it. I mean when we first moved here, I thought you were crazy. Now, I know better but, I just, it makes me wonder. Why? Why give up the job that you were obviously meant to do? Move us to some town that you've never even heard of where we have no friends, we have no family.

DR. BROWN: I made a promise. To your mother. Years ago, we were talking once about what I would do if anything ever happened to her. I didn't wanna hear it but she wouldn't let up. She started telling me about some town she got stuck in on a train trip with her parents when she was a girl. A town called Everwood. She said it was the most beautiful place that she'd ever seen and if anything ever happened to her, I should go there.

[Ephram looks shocked.]

DR. BROWN: I don't know if she really meant it. I don't even know if I remember the conversation very well. But if she did mean it, even a little, I had to do it. I broke enough promises to her while she was still alive. It was the only promise that I could still keep.

EPHRAM: Does anyone else know about this?

DR. BROWN: Nope.

EPHRAM: Do you realize how much easier this year would've been if you had just told me that?

DR. BROWN: Probably.

EPHRAM: Why didn't you?

DR. BROWN: I don't know. Wasn't supposed to be easy.

[Cut to another highway. The three teens are on their way home. "Medicine Man" by Amanda Ghost is playing on the radio.]

AMY: You can take this road the whole way.

COLIN: Yeah, I know but do we not?

AMY: Just trust me. Turn left, it goes straight to Everwood.

COLIN: Yeah but that's gonna take like 3 more hours. I mean, the highway's a lot quicker.

AMY: I noticed.

COLIN: [gets it] Good idea. We'll take the long way.

[They look back at Bright who is asleep and laugh.]

COLIN: Amy? I love you.

[She looks at him then smiles.]

LYRICS: You came to me with a shabby smile

AMY: You're such a jerk.

LYRICS: And then I woke up / oh yeah / I woke up / It's only if you ease my pain...

[They drive off in the direction Amy said.]

[Cut back to Dr. Brown and Dr. Douglas, who have resumed their medical discussion.]

DR. BROWN: I can't guarantee that I won't hit the intima.

DR. DOUGLAS: If enough blood accumulates, it'll be as bad as the initial clot.

DR. BROWN: If it happens, I'll open him up.

DR. DOUGLAS: And?

DR. BROWN: I can take the saphenous vein and graft it. I did it once. In Washington.

DR. DOUGLAS: But in the middle cerebral artery, not here.

DR. BROWN: I never had to.

DR. DOUGLAS: Right, then you'll have to go on cardiac bypass. Slow blood flow to the brain.

DR. BROWN: Right. [realizes] Right!

DR. DOUGLAS: Then?

DR. BROWN: That's it.

DR. DOUGLAS: That is it.

DR. BROWN: We figured it out! Thanks, Donald. Gosh, that was fun.

DR. DOUGLAS: You know, Andy. Just because it's possible, that doesn't mean you should do it.

DR. BROWN: This can work.

DR. DOUGLAS: Come on, you know the game. You don't go against these kinds of odds unless you can advance the science. The last time you went in on the kid, yes fine, absolutely. It had never been done before. There was no risk to the patient beyond extended catatonia. What you wanna do now? It's not medically remarkable. It's just hard.

DR. BROWN: Well, I'm not doing it for science. I'm doing it for Colin and his family, this town. It's very different to New York. Everything is connected and he's at the center.

DR. DOUGLAS: You shouldn't know that much about your patient's life. Not if you want to risk it successfully. And if you do fail, which I'm sorry to say is likely, have you thought about the ramifications? You won't be the town savior. You'll be a child's executioner.

DR. BROWN: This kid is worth the risk.

DR. DOUGLAS: I'm telling you, Andy. Do not perform this surgery. Your soul cannot bare another loss, especially one at your own hands.

DR. BROWN: Well, that's pretty much why I have to do it. Thank you, Donald. I appreciate this more than you'll know. And so does Colin.

EPHRAM: Yeah, ah... DAD!? He's putting Delia to bed. Be down in a sec. Come on in.

[Colin obliges.]

EPHRAM: Do you want me to wait with you?

COLIN: Yeah, sure.

[They just stand there and look at each other for a second. Both unsure of what to say.]

COLIN: OK. You don't have to wait if you don't want to.

EPHRAM: I just, you know, feel like...

COLIN: I know how you feel, believe me. I think I'll just wait by myself.

EPHRAM: (a little disappointed) OK. See you.

[Dr. Brown walks down the stairs.]

DR. BROWN: Hey, Colin.

COLIN: Hi, Dr. Brown. Can I talk to you for a minute? I-I won't take long.

DR. BROWN: Sure, sure. Come right in.

[He ushers Colin to the lounge.]

DR. BROWN: How are ya?

COLIN: [upbeat] I'm good. [laughs] You know I had this insane day today. It was kind of amazing actually. I mean, it felt long but it went by so fast.

DR. BROWN: I know the feeling.

COLIN: Yeah. It's a good feeling. You know, I'm not saying that you should feel this good everyday, but... I think you should give each day's it's own chance, you know? To make things... I don't know, better? Right? You know what I mean.

[His smile slowly fades and he leans forward.]

COLIN: When they put me out tomorrow, if I don't wake up the way I'm supposed to, if I'm not me again, I don't wanna be. [stern] Don't bring me back.

[Dr. Brown thinks for a moment. Colin's eyes have started to well up.]

DR. BROWN: Listen, Colin...

COLIN: Please? Just promise me. That you won't keep trying.

[Beat.]

DR. BROWN: I promise.

COLIN: [pulls out an envelope] I, ah, I wrote it down. In case.

DR. BROWN: I understand. But everything's gonna be fine. This will never get opened.

COLIN: [not so sure] OK. Good.

[Dr. Brown holds out his hand and Colin takes it.]

[Cut to the Browns' kitchen. Early morning. Nina is preparing breakfast. Dr. Brown has just woken up and heads to the kitchen.]

DR. BROWN: I knew I smelled coffee.

NINA: You're out of cream cheese. I was just gonna go to my house and grab some.

DR. BROWN: That's OK, I like it dry.

NINA: No you don't.

DR. BROWN: I know. By the time you get back, I'll have to leave for the hospital. You didn't have to do all this, Nina.

DR. BROWN: [holding out his hand for the keys] Not if we wanna get there alive.

[Cut to the hospital in Denver. Colin is sitting in front of a mirror, trying to cut his hair. His mother notices.]

COLIN: I told the woman if I have to wear a muumuu in public, I get to shave my own head.

SHARON: Be careful.

COLIN: Didn't you like give me every single haircut I had until high school?

SHARON: Yeah. Then one day you came home and announced you needed a "cooler" barber. You fired me.

[He laughs.]

COLIN: Sorry. Any chance you'll take the job back?

SHARON: Sit down.

[She takes the scissors then kisses him on the head and begins cutting.]

["Cathedrals" by Jump Little Children begins to play as we intersperse between various scenes. Mainly of Colin's mom cutting his hair, the Abbotts getting ready to leave, Dr. Brown and his team preparing, and Delia and Nina writing a card for Colin.]

[LYRICS]

In the shadows of tall buildings Of fallen angels on the ceilings Oily feathers in bronze and concrete Faded colors, pieces left incomplete The line moves slowly past the electric Fence across the borders between Continents In the cathedrals of New York and Rome there is a feeling that you should Just go home and spend a lifetime Finding out just where that is In the shadows of tall buildings the Architecture is slowly peeling marble Statues and glass dividers someone is watching all of the outsiders the line Moves slowly through the numbered Gate past the mosaic of the head of State In the cathedrals of New York and Rome there is a feeling that you should Just go home and spend a lifetime Finding out just where that is

[Colin is lying on the operating table, completely bald. Dr. Brown places a mask over him to feed him the anesthesia.]

DR. BROWN: I want you to count backwards from 10, Colin.

COLIN: 10, 9, 8, 7...

[Until he knocks out.]

[Cut to Ephram at a vending machine. Amy walks in unnoticed.]

AMY: Wanna share a Twix?

EPHRAM: Good memory.

AMY: Yeah. We're all sitting in there if you wanted to come and join us.

EPHRAM: Yeah, I know. I saw you guys. I just...

AMY: I wanted to call you. I just, I didn't think you wanted to come.

EPHRAM: I, came for my dad. I mean, I figured I should be there for him.

[Amy understands.]

AMY: Things have definitely changed around here, huh?

EPHRAM: A year's a long time. Change is bound to happen.

AMY: Whether you like it or not.

EPHRAM: Yeah.

AMY: I, I told everyone I'd get some drinks so I should probably do that.

EPHRAM: Do you need some change?

AMY: No, I think I'm good. Thank you.

EPHRAM: Are you sure? Because I've got a whole bunch...

[She smiles.]

EPHRAM: What?

AMY: It's just... you. Still taking care of me.

[He hands her the coins.]

AMY: I thought you'd be in New York already.

EPHRAM: I might skip New York this year. I mean it's the worst time to go anyway.

DR. BROWN: It burst. Damn! Re-equip blot surely. Let's go. Come on people let's go. I want as many gel foams as quickly as possible, OK? As fast as you can bring them to me keep 'em coming. I'm gonna stuff this sucker. That's good, that's good. Here we go, here we go. Slowing it down. Again, good job, good job. Here we go. Come on, baby. Hang in there, Colin. Come on buddy. Slow it up, good job. Here we go.

[Fade on a hospital corridor. Dr. Brown slowly walks down the hall and into the waiting room. Inside the waiting room are Colin's parents, the Abbotts, Edna and Irv, and Ephram. They all rise to greet him. Dr. Brown has a completely blank face.]